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Finally, Valet Parking Arrives at the Mission's Veterinary Hospital

I noticed something curious the other day: the vet on corner of 18th and Alabama now provides valet parking services! Which is great; next time Seamus gets a touch sick, I can just strap him to the roof of my station wagon and pay some guy in a vest to hopelessly circle the neighborhood until I'm done.

Comments (12)

SVCA is a 24-hour emergency vet. I don’t know about you, but if I were rushing one of my dogs in with a medical emergency, I wouldn’t waste precious time looking for parking – I’d double park right out front and focus on getting him/her inside to a vet. I’ll bet enough people do that that SVCA is probably trying to appease the neighbors by adding a parking attendant.

My neighbor rushed her dog there a few years ago, and his three day stay, which he didn’t survive cost $11,283.75. So, at those prices valet parking doesn’t come as surprise. Yeah, yeah, I know they’re the go-to cancer hospital in SF.

Same with GG - my friend’s cat was very sick last year and went to this hospital. The staff was amazing. This cat lived another year. I can see how parking can be a problem when you’re panicked with a sick pet…but agree that the valet attendant looks pretty silly.

SVCA, has it’s own parking lot in the back of their building but there’s no way to get into the hospital from inside the parking garage. So I think this makes a lot of sense. Last time I went there, I dropped my very sick kitty into the lobby and had to then park my car around the back and walk back around the building. This may seem like not a lot of effort but this is very precious time when you have a very sick pet waiting for you.

This valet is probably not for looking for parking around the block, but basically to just park the car around the back of the building in their own private parking garage (which needs a garage door opener that needs to be checked out at the front desk and then returned).

P.D.Bird - Have you ever tried taking a pet on Muni, especially to SFVS in the middle of the night? Not gonna happen. Cabs don’t come, and carshare won’t let you have pets in their vehicles. Half the reason I have a car is so that I can get my pets to and from the vet’s office with the minimum amount of stress to all involved.

The valet service was free when I took my dog there - I’m assuming it still is. And, frankly, it was fantastic. I rushed my 85-pound dog in for an emergency and not only did the valet immediately help me with the car, but he also grabbed a vet tech to help me carry the dog inside. In an emergency, this service is invaluable.

When my cat had lymphoma a few years ago he was treated there, and I dreaded every appointment because of the stress of no parking anywhere nearby. Being disabled myself by an illness that is as disabling as Class 4 heart failure, it was doubly stressful for me to have to risk being late for my appointment by circling the neighborhood endlessly searching for a legal parking place, and then having to agonizingly schlep my cat from several blocks away to the building. And then subject him to chemotherapy (which wasn’t working), then schlep him for several blocks back to the car again and go home across town and watch him die cell by cell for weeks at a time. If I’d had the option of valet parking I would have used it, no questions asked regardless of cost, because it would have saved me from the physical stress that permanently worsened my illness, not to mention the emotional stress of one more thing to worry about when my cat was battling death.

Bikes are not an option for persons with disabilities. Even so, I would still not take my cat in the rain on a bike across town, especially if he was sick. Bikes are not the universal answer for everyone. And valet parking is a godsend for any SFVS client.

Yeah, I had to take my kitty there to be put to sleep, and I was prepared as she was 18 and had been given 6 months to live just about 6 months prior, but the staff there were SO kind and considerate. Even though there were other people waiting they put me in a room right away so my cat could have her last few moments in a calm place. The vet walked me through everything that would happen in advance so I would not be surprised. She gave her the injection as she lay in my arms and it was very peaceful. Very grateful to the staff there, they were so compassionate at a difficult time.